Valutare il grado di comprensione delle information literacy skills da ...

informazioni sul progetto ENIL si veda
Information literacy in Europe. A first insight
into the state of the art of information
literacy in the European Union, a
cura di Carla Basili, Roma, Consiglio nazionale
delle ricerche, 2003.
10 SABRINA PICCININI, Information literacy
skills: a case study of student perceptions
at the University of Lugano,
tesi di master, University of Northumbria
at Newcastle e Università degli
studi di Parma, giugno 2005.
11 Per una definizione di ricerca qualitativa
e quantitativa si vedano BEVERLY
HANCOCK, Trent focus for research and
development in primary health
care: an introduction to qualitative
research, Trent Focus, 1998,
(ultima consultazione: 23 gennaio 2006);
MATTHEW B. MILES – MICHAEL HUBER-
MAN, Qualitative data analysis: an expanded
source, Thousand Oaks, Sage,
1994 2 .
12 “The case study is the method of
choice when the phenomenon under
study is not readily distinguishable
from its context” (ROBERT K. YIN, Applications
of case study research,
Thousand Oaks, Sage, 1993, p. 3). Per
una definizione di caso di studio si
vedano anche JACQUES HAMEL, Case
study methods, Thousand Oaks, Sage,
1993; ROBERT E. STAKE, Case studies, in
Strategies of qualitative inquiry, Norman
E. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln
(eds), Thousand Oaks, Sage, 2003 2 ,
p. 134-164.
13 Si veda a questo proposito: MAT-
THEW B. MILES – MICHAEL HUBERMAN, Qualitative
data analysis: an expanded
source, cit., p. 267.
14 Per una panoramica sulle problematiche
relative alle interviste individuali
si vedano BRUCE L. BERG, Qualitative
research methods for the social
sciences, Boston, Allyn and Bacon,
1998 3 ; STEINAR KVALE, Interviews: an
introduction to qualitative research
interviewing, Thousand Oaks, Sage,
1996.
15 “ … in which some participants
withhold things that they might say in
private, and a tendency toward ‘polarization’,
in which some participants
express more extreme views in a
group than in private” (DAVID L. MOR-
GAN, Focus groups as qualitative research,
Thousand Oaks, Sage, 1997 2 ,
Biblioteche oggi – aprile 2006
p. 15); per una trattazione della tecnica
dell’intervista di gruppo si veda anche
il capitolo Focus group interviewing,
in Qualitative research methods
for the social sciences, cit., p. 100-119.
Un’interessante riflessione sull’uso
dell’intervista di gruppo con studenti
universitari si trova nel contributo di
BARBARA VALENTINE, Undergraduate research
behaviour: using focus groups
to generate theory, “Research in Higher
Education”, 40 (1993), 2, p. 185-200.
16 Le problematiche relative all’uso dei
questionari sono ben evidenziate negli
studi di WILLIAM FODDY, Constructing
questions for interview and questionnaires:
theory and practice in social
research, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press, 1993; NORMAN M.
BRADBURN – SEYMOUR SUDMAN – BRIAN
WASINK, Asking questions: the definitive
guide to questionnaire design – for
market research, political polls, and
social and health questionnaires,
revised edition, San Francisco, Jossey-
Bass, 2004.
17 Nel prendere la decisione di utilizzare
un modello di information literacy
skill è stato di conforto l’esempio
tratto dalle esperienze fatte da altri ricercatori.
Come sostiene Ruth Ivey,
fondamentalmente il modello rappresenta
una pratica lista di “attributes
Abstract
Casi di studio
and behaviours that could be used to
gather information from interviewes”
(RUTH IVEY, Information literacy…,
cit.). Si vedano anche gli studi già citati
di Hartmann e Johnston; Morrison;
Seamans.
18 Il modello proposto originariamente
è quello suggerito in CHRISTINA
DOYLE, Information literacy in an information
society …, cit.
19 Il modello è tratto dalle indicazioni
fornite nel rapporto dell’American
Library Association citato nella nota 2.
20 Il manuale di MILES – HUBERMAN,
Qualitative data analysis: an expanded
source, cit., è indubbiamente un valido
strumento per apprendere i fondamenti
dell’analisi qualitativa, anche se
è piuttosto ricco e articolato. Si vedano
anche i contributi più snelli di
BEVERLEY HANCOCK, Trent focus for research
and development in primary
health care …, cit. e di CATHERINE POPE
– SUE ZIEBLAND – NICHOLAS MAYS, Analysing
qualitative data, “British Medical
Journal”, 320 (2000), p. 114-116.
21 Pratici consigli sugli elementi chiave
utili a garantire la validità di una ricerca
sono raccolti nel capitolo Making
good sense: drawing and verifying
conclusions, in MILES – HUBERMAN,
Qualitative data analysis: an expanded
source, cit., p. 245-287.
Assessing student perceptions of information literacy skills:
some reflections on the research techniques
Information literacy skills (ILS) are nowadays considered to be crucial
abilities in order to tackle a wide range of activities, particularly in the
academic context. Literature indicates that assessing student perceptions
of ILS is a good practice in order to design ILS implementation at the
university.
At the University of Lugano a case study was carried out with the view to
evaluating students’ understanding of ILS and of their importance. The
project also examined student perceptions of the role of the library in the
development of ILS and the impact of an ILS course.
This article focuses on the research techniques employed in the project
with the aim to explore methodological choices and point out issues
experienced in data collection and analysis. Such investigation endeavours
to produce some insights into the use of qualitative research methods and
to provide suggestions to librarians who intend to utilize such methods in
their work.
The article underlines the importance for the academic library to use
research methods as a means to better understand the university context
and, consequently, to devise strategies to improve library services and to
enhance library visibility and potentials.
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